Some things parents of bilingual children experience seem to be universal. As a parent of a bilingual or multilingual child, you become more aware of your native language and you may also consciously try to improve your own skills. In today’s world, there is an infinite number of things parents can potentially worry about or feel pressure for. Adding another language to that brings a new dimension to parenthood. You have to ensure that your child gets enough exposure to all languages and be on a constant look-out for language resources. To make up for the lack of materials, you probably end up being more creative than you thought you would ever be.
No two multilingual families are the same and children learn their languages differently, but some things that parents of bilingual children experience seem to be universal. As a parent bringing up your child to speak more than one language, you… 1. Become more aware...
Some time ago I wrote a post on what you need to consider when you want bring (back) a family language into your child’s life. I also wrote a piece on motivating your child to use the minority language and become an active bilingual. Many parents have asked me to...
You have decided to bring up your children to become bilingual so they can reap all the benefits of knowing more than one language. Exciting! You speak to your family and friends about your decision and ask other parents about their experiences. Others may not be as...
The number of parents who raise their children in a multilingual environment is increasing. More and more individuals and whole families move from one country to another due to work, studies or other reasons. Couples with different native languages meet and start a...
“How fantastic that your child will learn many languages!” and “I think you should stick to the majority language only!” Those are the two extreme reactions that parents may hear when they say that they want their children to become bilingual. My hope is that most...
Consistency – you have heard it from me and many others: to be in with the best chance of raising a bilingual child, who can confidently speak the family languages, the recommendation for parents is to be consistent with their choice of language. You may have decided...
Question My husband can not speak my mother tongue and I am afraid that he will feel left out if I teach our child my language – what to do? Answer It is great that you think about the scenario in advance. If you haven’t already done so, speak to your husband about...
“What if I don’t understand what my child is saying?” is one of the bigger concerns a parent of a budding bilingual child can have. It can be a worry especially for parents in families who follow the one parent, one language (OPOL) strategy. Parents who do not...
Today’s post about bilingual children and grandparents was partly inspired by some of the great ideas my fellow bloggers had around the topic “How technology can help you bring up a bilingual child”, which was the May edition of the Raising Multilingual Children...
You might think it’s strange to ask whether you are expecting a bilingual baby. Surely you can’t know how many languages your child is going to speak! Well, of course you are right, you can not exactly know how it will all turn out with the languages in your family,...